Additional HMO licensing · Medway Council Designation for an Area for Additional Licensing of HMOs 2026
Approved – not started yet | Area covered | Listed wards only (6 wards) |
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| Designation made | 22 Sept 2026 |
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| Runs | 4 Jan 2027 to 3 Jan 2032 |
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Wards in the scheme (6)
Chatham Central & Brompton · Fort Pitt · Gillingham North · Gillingham South · Luton · Watling
Ward or street lists can split a road. Use the council's own address checker or designation map before relying on this list.
Council licensing page Designation notice
Note from our check: HMOs with 3+ persons in 2+ households not mandatory; s257 excluded; final fees not on council page (consultation proposal per NRLA: £1,600)
Checked 28 Sept 2026.
Selective licensing · Medway Council Designation for Areas for Selective Licensing 2026
Approved – not started yet | Area covered | Listed wards only (7 wards) |
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| Designation made | 22 Sept 2026 |
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| Runs | 4 Jan 2027 to 3 Jan 2032 |
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Wards in the scheme (7)
Chatham Central & Brompton · Fort Pitt · Gillingham North · Gillingham South · Luton · Strood North & Frindsbury · Watling
Ward or street lists can split a road. Use the council's own address checker or designation map before relying on this list.
Council licensing page Designation notice
Note from our check: final fees not published on council page yet (consultation proposal per NRLA: £840)
Checked 28 Sept 2026.
Mandatory HMO licensing in Medway
Whatever the local schemes, a licence is required for any house in multiple occupation let to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. This rule is national and has applied since 1 October 2018. Letting without a required licence is a criminal offence under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004. Read do I need an HMO licence? and how to apply.
Medway HMO licence register
We did not find an online public register for Medway. Every council must keep one (Housing Act 2004, s.232) and make it available for inspection; ask the council's private sector housing team.
Medway Article 4 and HMO planning rules
Medway publishes Article 4 data to the national planning data platform, but none of its 47 published areas are labelled as an HMO direction. That does not prove there is no HMO Article 4 direction: check the council's planning pages.
Licensing and planning are separate. A licence does not give planning permission, and planning permission does not replace a licence. See Article 4 and HMOs.
Tribunal record: rent repayment orders and civil penalties in Medway
Figures below count First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) decisions published on GOV.UK for properties located in Medway. They show how tenants and the council use enforcement here. Most civil penalties are paid without appeal, so they never reach the tribunal.
| Rent repayment order decisions | 0 (0 in the last 3 years) |
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| Civil penalty appeals | 2 |
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| Penalty upheld (in full or reduced) | 50% · confirmed in full 50% |
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| Other Housing Act appeals (licence terms, notices, orders) | 7 |
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Amounts and outcomes are extracted automatically from the decision text and can be wrong; open the decision on GOV.UK for the full reasons. Party names are not shown. Information, not legal advice.
If you have let without a licence you needed, read unlicensed property: what to do, rent repayment orders and civil penalties.
Landlord database deadline for Medway
Medway is in the South East region of the new Private Rented Sector Database. Registration opens 15 Mar 2027 and the deadline to register is 14 Jun 2027. The published fee is £65 per property per year. Database registration is separate from council licensing: you may need both. See register your rental property.
Get help with a Medway licence application
We can prepare a licence application for you for a fixed fee; the council's own fee is separate. See pricing for what is included and how we make money. You can also run a full address check on the postcode checker.
Medway licensing: common questions
Is there selective licensing in Medway?
Yes. Medway Council Designation for Areas for Selective Licensing 2026: approved, starting 4 Jan 2027 until 3 Jan 2032 (part of the area). Check the council's map or address checker to confirm your street.
How much is an HMO licence in Medway?
We did not find a published fee on the council pages we checked. Mandatory HMO licence fees are set by each council, usually in two parts (application and grant). See the council page or our HMO licence cost guide.
Does Medway have an Article 4 direction for HMOs?
Medway publishes Article 4 data to the national planning data platform, but none of its 47 published areas are labelled as an HMO direction. That does not prove there is no HMO Article 4 direction: check the council's planning pages.
How often do landlords in Medway face rent repayment orders or fines?
The First-tier Tribunal has published 0 rent repayment order decisions for properties in Medway (0 with an order made), and 2 civil penalty appeals. Most penalties are never appealed, so the true number of fines is higher.
Related: selective licensing in England · additional HMO licensing · HMO licence cost · HMO rules · HMO hub
Sources
Last checked 28 Sep 2026. Information, not legal advice. Licensing schemes change often; always confirm with the council before you act.